Bhaskaracharya gets Birla award

The fifteenth Vachaspati Puraskar, which accords recognition to literary works in Sanskrit, has been given to Dr Bhaskaracharya Tripathi for his work Saket Saurabham (Mahakavyam), reports Sidhartha Roy.

The fifteenth Vachaspati Puraskar, which accords recognition to literary works in Sanskrit, has been given to Dr Bhaskaracharya Tripathi for his work Saket Saurabham (Mahakavyam).

The Puraskar, instituted by the KK Birla Foundation in 1992, carries a cash award of Rs 1 lakh. The Vachaspati Puraskar is given to honour a writer’s work in Sanskrit published during the last 10 years.

The foundation has given another literary award, the 2006 Bihari Puraskar, to Alka Saraogi for her novel Shesh Kadambari. Named after the famous Hindi poet Bihari, the Bihari Puraskar is meant for literary works in Hindi or Rajasthani by writers from Rajasthan and carries a cash award of Rs 1 lakh.

Apart from the Bihari and Vachaspati Puraskar, the foundation instituted another award, the Shankar Puraskar, in 1992, to honour an outstanding work published in Hindi during the last 10 years on Indian philosophy, culture and art.

The Puraskar for the year 2006 has been given to Dr Shanti Jain for her work Lokgiton Ke Sandarbh aur Aayam. The Puraskar carries a cash award of Rs 1.5 lakh.

Director of the KK Birla Foundation BN Tandon said that there was no other such award on this subject and the award has been highly appreciated in literary and academic circles.